The present invention relates to emollients used to treat cuticles, especially cuticles surrounding finger or toenails. More particularly, the present invention relates to a semi-solid emollient that can be packaged in a container from which the emollient can be extended, and preferably retracted as well.
In the field of cosmetic, personal care, and pharmaceutical products, an emollient is defined as an agent that moisturizes and/or softens and/or smoothes the skin. Typically, emollients tend to reduce the roughness, cracking and irritation of the skin. The smoothing is believed to be effected by the penetration of the emollient into the surface layers of tissue.
Emollients tend to be bland, fatty, oleaginous substances. One of the benefits of emollients is their ability to exclude water-soluble irritants, air, and air-borne bacteria. Presently, there are numerous compositions that function as emollients in a wide variety of products, although the respective compositions may function in different ways. For example, certain emollients coat the surface of the skin and serve to impede water loss from the skin. Such emollients are generally comprised of large molecules that form a hydrophobic barrier.
Use of the word xe2x80x9cemollientxe2x80x9d is often intended to mean a combination of several emollients selected for their individual properties and blended to achieve a desired result. Examples of emollients are lanolin, castor oil, mineral oil, silicone derivatives and petroleum jelly. These products (with the possible exception of the silicone derivatives) typically exhibit an undesirable greasy feel on the skin. Other compositions used as emollients include high oleic sunflower oil and its derivatives, macadamia nut oil and its derivatives, grape seed oil, hazelnut oil, olive oil, sesame oil, and other natural seed and nut oils such as jojoba oil, and derivatives thereof. Of this group the preferred emollients for cosmetic and personal care formulation use are high oleic sunflower oil and its derivatives, macadamia nut oil and its derivatives, and jojoba oil and its derivatives. These emollients are preferred due to their skin feel (they are non-oily and tend to penetrate the skin) and superior oxidative stability when incorporated in cosmetic, pharmaceutical and personal care formulations. Finally, other compositions used as emollients include corn oil, cottonseed oil, rose water ointment, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, theobroma oil, almond oil, and myristyl alcohol.
Additionally, a number of fatty acids derived from either plants or animal sources have been used as emollients. Fatty acids generally comprise aliphatic hydrocarbon or other organic chains with carboxylic substituents on them, typically having between 8 and 24 carbon atoms in the chain backbone. Fatty acids are often used as emollients or xe2x80x9csuperfatting agentsxe2x80x9d (this term being known to those skilled in the art) in creams, lotions, shaving creams, lipsticks and as binding agents in pressed powders and blushes. Fatty acids used in cosmetic formulations include stearic acid, oleic acid, myristic acid and palmitic acid. Other typical fatty acids include linoleic acid, behenic acid, and palmitoleic acid.
Fatty alcohols are also used as emollients. They are said to be less sticky and less heavy than some other fatty materials, such as the fatty acids, and are frequently used to lower the viscosity and improve the stability of lotions and creams. Fatty alcohols are also used in reactive hair dying and perming products. Examples of fatty alcohols used as emollients are lauryl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, jojoba alcohol and oleyl alcohol.
Further, fatty esters are used as emollients. One benefit of fatty esters is that they are not as oily to the touch as some other types of fatty emollients. Examples of fatty esters include isopropyl palmitate, isopropyl myristate and glyceryl stearate. Another fatty ester emollient is ojoba oil, which is derived from the seed of the plant species Simmondsia chinensis. Jojoba oil and its derivatives have an excellent skin feel (because they are non-oily and penetrating as compared to some other substances) and impart emolliency without a greasy feel. Jojoba oil is composed almost exclusively of wax esters, with little or no triglycerides present. Further, non-biodegradable emollients, such as hydrocarbons or silicones (such as methyl silicones) are known and are used as emollients in cosmetic and personal care preparations.
One of the problems with typical emollients (other than some of the above-described silicone emollients) is that they impart a wet, oily, or greasy feel to the cuticle area being treated (sometimes referred to herein as the xe2x80x9cselected areaxe2x80x9d). Further, typical emollients are often placed on or migrate to unselected areas. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cunselected areaxe2x80x9d means an area other than the selected area, and includes the fingertips, face, palm, clothes, furniture, and other surfaces not intended for treatment. When an emollient gets on unselected areas it can lead to an uncomfortable feeling and/or undesirable appearance (leaving a heavy coating and/or shine). Often users of cuticle treatment products containing high levels of oily or greasy components experience a migration of the applied oily or greasy components to unselected surfaces which may causes staining of clothing, furniture coverings and other objects contacted by the user.
In pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/010,736, filed Jan. 22, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,530 to Arquette, both of which are owned by the assignee of the present application, there are disclosed emollients that impart a xe2x80x9cdryxe2x80x9d feel to the user and, unlike silicones, are naturally derived and biodegradable. These emollients include esters produced from jojoba oil or natural organic seed oil. More particularly, these emollients include ethyl and isopropyl jojoba esters or derivatives together with jojoba oil, randomized jojoba oil, partially saturated and randomized jojoba esters, and long chain jojoba alcohols. Furthermore, in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/329,882 filed Jun. 11, 1999 to Kleiman, also owned by the assignee of the present application, there are disclosed oxidatively stable long chain ethyl ester emollients comprising stabilized ethyl esters of macadamia nut oil and other natural seed oils. The products disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,530 and application Ser. No. 09/010/736 to Arquette and U.S. patent application No. Ser. 09/329,882 to Kleiman are known as xe2x80x9cdry emollientsxe2x80x9d due to the feel of dry emolliency imparted when these products are applied to the skin.
Containers normally used to store and carry typical emollients or commercially available cuticle treatment products are not designed to allow application in such a manner as to contribute to a dry emollient feel. Typical containers include small glass bottles of the same general type used for nail polish. These containers come equipped with a small brush for application of the liquid cuticle treatment product to users"" cuticles. Such containers often leak or dry up due to broken caps or improper seals and application of the cuticle treatment product is often an unpleasant event due to its free flowing and oily nature. Another less common container for liquid cuticle treatment is similar to a large felt pen, such as a xe2x80x9cMagic Markerxe2x80x9d in size, shape and in its method of delivery of the cuticle treatment product through a xe2x80x9cwickxe2x80x9d similar to the writing tip of a marker. One such container is called a xe2x80x9ccuticle Nourishing Penxe2x80x9d (NAGELHAUT-PFLEGESTIFT FEUTRE NOURRISSANT), which contains 0.14 FL. OZ. (4 ml net) of cuticle treatment and is sold by ALESSANDRO GmbH Cosmetics D-40764 of Langenfeld Germany. Although it is in some aspects more convenient than the xe2x80x9cnail polishxe2x80x9d type container for carrying and delivering a cuticle treatment product, the low-viscosity fluid in such a container dries out quickly. Further, only a treatment product of very low viscosity can be delivered through the wick. Such low viscosity products are not capable of functioning as effective emollients or as effective carriers of actives (also called xe2x80x9cactive ingredientsxe2x80x9d, or xe2x80x9cactive materialsxe2x80x9d) for cuticle treatment.
Despite the disclosures of the prior art, including emollient compositions chemically formulated to impart a dry feel, there still remains a need for a cuticle treatment product that can be conveniently carried, stored and used, and that enables the emollient to be delivered only to a selected area, thereby reducing the application or migration of the emollient to unselected areas, and assisting in imparting a dry feel.
This invention relates to an improved emollient and to a product for the treatment and care of cuticles. The product comprises a container including the emollient, which allows a user to conveniently store and carry the emollient and apply it directly to the selected area without the emollient being inadvertently applied, or migrating, to unselected areas.
An emollient used in the invention may be any semi-solid emollient or combination of emollients used to treat cuticles, such as emollients including hydrocarbons, silicones, waxes, or emollients derived from seed oils. Preferably, the invention utilizes emollients that are naturally derived from seed and/or nut oils to further impart a xe2x80x9cdryxe2x80x9d feel while providing emolliency and softening the cuticle area. Most preferably the emollient includes saturated and/or unsaturated ethyl and/or isopropyl esters of long-chain fatty acids and alcohols derived from plant seed and/or nut oils. These are biodegradable, naturally derived emollients that have a tactile property described as xe2x80x9cdry,xe2x80x9d because they are non-oily and preferably penetrate the skin. The improved emollient compositions of the invention may be used alone or as carriers for materials that have specific activity. When delivered to the cuticle area by the emollient the actives may impart (1) activity, and/or (2) aesthetics. Examples of such active materials fare antifungal products, essential oils, antioxidants, topical anesthetics, vitamins, hormones, proteins and herbal extracts.
The emollient of the present invention differs from other cuticle-treatment emollients in various ways, including the fact that it is semi-solid. The emollient differs from other semi-solid emollients, such as those used for lip care, in numerous ways, including its different chemical composition, physical properties, the actives it preferably includes, and the more desirable slip characteristics, as explained herein.
The desired effect of imparting a dry feel to the treatment area may be enhanced when an emollient is applied by a controlled-delivery device. Such a device is preferably a container that retains the emollient without allowing it to dry and which delivers its contents to selected treatment areas. The container should (1) be convenient to carry and fit into a purse or pocket, and (2) enable a user to apply emollient on a cuticle without the user having to touch the emollient with his/her fingertips and without said application resulting in the emollient contacting non selected surfaces. Preferably, the container is an extendable/retractable (also called a propel-repel) container, and is most preferably a tube similar to those used for lipcare products. This container delivery device contributes to a perceived dry feel by the user because it (1) facilitates controlled delivery of the emollient to the area selected for treatment, and (2) prevents the emollient from reaching the fingertips of the user, thereby preventing the emollient from migrating to unselected areas, which is undesirable and which can detract from the desired dry emollient feel.
The present invention thus includes a semi-solid emollient for use as a cuticle treatment and a product comprising a semi-solid emollient and a container for storing and delivering the emollient to areas selected for treatment. The emollient is essentially solid at room temperature, and can be provided in various shapes and sizes although it is preferably produced in the shape of a stick or cylinder so that it can be retained in a tube-shaped container.
The novel features that are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its structure and its operation together with the additional object and advantages thereof will best be understood from the following description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Unless specifically noted, it is intended that the words and phrases in the specification and claims be given the ordinary and accustomed meaning to those of ordinary skill in the applicable art or arts. If any other meaning is intended, the specification will specifically state that a special meaning is being applied to a word or phrase. Likewise, the use of the words xe2x80x9cfunctionxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cmeansxe2x80x9d in the Description of Preferred Embodiments is not intended to indicate a desire to invoke the special provision of 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7112, paragraph 6 to define the invention. To the contrary, if the provisions of 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7112, paragraph 6, are sought to be invoked to define the invention(s), the claims will specifically state the phrases xe2x80x9cmeans forxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cstep forxe2x80x9d and a function, without also reciting in such phrases any structure, material, or act in support of the function. Even when the claims recite a xe2x80x9cmeans forxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cstep forxe2x80x9d performing a function, if they also recite any structure, material or acts in support of that means of step, then the intention is not to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7112, paragraph 6. Moreover, even if the provisions of 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7112, paragraph 6, are invoked to define the inventions, it is intended that the inventions not be limited only to the specific structure, material or acts that are described in the preferred embodiments, but in addition, include any and all structures, materials or acts that perform the claimed function, along with any and all known or later-developed equivalent structures, materials or acts for performing the claimed function.